that is b-b-billion with a b, as in a mighty big number. we lost $32 billion just waiting around for the chance to go. say what you want about tax breaks for the rich. but if you're stuck in traffic, your mercedes is stuck right along next to my chevy. and heaven forbid that a bridge falls down, because we are all in this together. rich, poor, whatever. infrastructure is like that. it's the ultimate expression of collective will, where everyone pays and everyone benefits. we are, after all, stakeholders in our nation. if stuff like a water main breaks, you can go ahead and think of that water main as your water main, because it is. and what if we left the stuff that we own, our stuff, just fall apart? now, we have been talking on this show about happens if congress lets america default on its debt. if they create a situation where america can't pay its bills. the bipartisan policy center has scenarios for that. and the first of them is that we would cut off $5.6 billion for stuff like highways and trains and airports. think about the long-t